


Like a Dog with a Bone

by nature_aly



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe: Canon, Dogs, Fluff, M/M, dog park au, tiny bit of Harry abuse-but just teasing really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 17:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4231113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nature_aly/pseuds/nature_aly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick is a great pet owner, always taking the time to bring Pig to the dog park for completely selfless reasons. The fact that he keeps running into Liam Payne there doesn't factor in at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Dog with a Bone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [twoshipsdrifting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoshipsdrifting/gifts).



Nick misses sleep.

Why were his childhood dreams hosting the Radio One Breakfast Show? Yeah, yeah, it’s amazing that he’s living said dream, but it was ridiculous how early he had to get up every morning.

And even the bloody weekends, he was up before 6. That was Pig’s fault though. Pig’s fault combined with Breakfast’s fault. He'll admit that he can’t really blame her for not understanding sleeping in on two days out of every seven, even though she is a very smart dog. But he does allow himself to resent her for a moment everytime she wakes him on a Saturday.

At least it’s light out.

But sleep.

He yearns for sleep.

Sleep would be so much better than walking over to Regent’s Park at the arse crack of dawn. The sun is rising, currently. Nick is literally watching the sun rise, and not even from the fun side of being a member of the straight-through-crew.

He lets Pig off her leash when they get past the boat launch to the dog friendly zone of the park. He has to fully concentrate on making his eyes open wide enough to actually look around. They’re the only ones here so early in the morning. Maybe he can lay down and get some sleep on a bench. He probably wouldn’t look too much like a vagrant, since his coat is quite nice. And Pig can occupy herself, running about and sniffing everything. He doesn’t need to keep too close an eye on her since she doesn’t seem to have the instinct Puppy did that made her roll around in fox poo. It’s still pretty painful to think of Puppy, but that was definitely one aspect of her personality that he doesn’t miss.

He reaches the nearest bench, still contemplating its potential as a napping location, when he sees another person and dog approaching. So much for that plan. He sits down on the bench anyway which unfortunately results in him waking up even more as the cold of the metal seeps through his jeans. Maybe tomorrow morning he’ll bring his duvet with him.

Pig bounds over to the new dog, looking to make friends, her thin little tail wagging so hard her bottom is swaying back and forth. The other dog is huge, a Great Dane, but still in the puppy stage by the looks of how he's tripping over his too long limbs. Young or not, Nick still tenses a bit and starts walking over to them. Pig is usually good with unfamiliar animals, but this dog is just so much bigger than her.

Pig slows and the Dane stands still as she approaches. The two dogs touch noses and then circle each other to smell at each others hind ends. Standard dog greeting. Then Pig jumps up on her back legs to tackle the other dog and they’re off running and grappling with each other.

Potential dog drama avoided, Nick finally looks over at the other owner and snorts involuntarily. “Good morning, Liam Payne.” He inwardly winces at how presenter-y he sounds.

“Hey Grimmy.” Liam’s voice sounds a bit rough, like this is the first time he’s spoken today. It’s the first time Nick’s talked to another person this morning, but as usual he’s been commentating to Pig about everything they’ve been doing for the past half hour.

There’s a slightly awkward moment, one that Nick is used to having when he sees celebrities he’s worked with out and about in real life. He wants to continue the conversation, ask Liam why he’s up so early, why he’s in this park, doesn’t he live on in a completely different side of London, but Nick hates it when he’s accused of interviewing someone when he’s actually trying to make small talk. And it’s happened much more often than he likes to think about.

However, it seems he is physically incapable of keeping completely silent. “What’s your dog called?” He asks, figuring that’s a neutral enough question even though he’s trying to avoid questions.

“He’s Watson. And yours is Pig, yeah?”

Nick nods. It’s stupid how pleased it makes him, that Liam knows his dog’s name, knows a random Nick Grimshaw Fact. He distracts himself by taking Pig’s tennis ball out of his coat pocket and bouncing it.

“Can he fetch?” Nick asks. “Pig loves running after the ball, but she’ll get distracted and doesn’t bring it all the way back to me. Then I end up walking more than her, having to retrieve it myself.”

“Yeah,” Liam says, straightening up with pride, “he’s gotten well good at it. Here-” He reaches out and Nick passes him the ball. “Look, Watson! Ball!”

Liam has good reason to be proud, his dog brings the ball right back to them and even drops it at Liam’s feet. Nick is very impressed. They settle into a good playing rhythm; Watson chases the ball and Pig chases Watson, only distracting him occasionally from the task at hand when she tries to jump on top of him. And as the point of the park is to exercise the dogs, it works perfectly. After 20 minutes, they have two worn out, well behaved dogs.

“Good boy, you are a brilliant fetcher.” Nick praises. Watson wags his tail in response and moves to lean heavily against Nick’s legs which Nick knows is like the equivalent of a dog hug. It’s the best. Pig yips at him then, possibly a little jealous and possibly just reminding Nick that she’ll be wanting breakfast soon. He leans lower to pet Watson a bit more before moving away to find Pig’s leash from where he dropped it earlier. “I guess we should be going. Pig’s getting hungry and I need some coffee.”

“Yeah, same” Liam says. “Only tea. For me.”

They nod at each other and it feels slightly awkward again to Nick, so he busies himself with wrapping up Pig’s slobbery ball in a piece of newspaper before it goes back into his coat pocket. They walk together back towards the park’s entryway and then seem to be going different ways.

“See you ‘round, mate.” Nick says, which feels proper laddy and not at all like he’s trying too hard.

“Yeah, later.”

Nick watches as Liam and Watson jog off in the direction of Nick’s favourite cafe. He waits until they turn the corner and leave his sight before he and Pig head towards home.

~

Nick is awake.

Why is he awake? Oh right, dog. Pig Dog.

Everything hurts, pain all over, but his head is the worst.

Why does he have a dog?

Why is he in such pain?

Oh yeah. Alcohol. That’ll do it.

Why does he have friends who have fashion shows with free booze and more friends who convince him to go to after-parties with more free booze?

When he’s not feeling so bad, he’ll admit to himself that he really didn’t make it hard for Alexa and Daisy to talk him into either of the two after-parties they hit up last night, but right now they are both harlots who are dead to him.

Pig’s yips are getting a bit more insistent, so he gets out of bed tries to let her just do her business in the garden, but she refuses. She is stood by the front door, waiting for her walk.

“Spoiled dog.” He says while sliding on last night’s jeans. He then amends the tone to something a bit nicer, telling her that she’s good and that he loves her. He can’t let her know about that one moment of resentment that he’s completely allowed to have.

They shuffle toward the park, halfway there before Nick remembers his brilliant idea about the duvet he had yesterday. Damn. He burrows into his coat. It’s supposed to be summer soon, festival season and all, but there’s still a chill hanging in the air, especially this early in the morning.

Liam and Watson are in the off-leash area already when they arrive, and Pig starts pulling him over there before he can release her. Nick had seen Harry last night at the show and had started to mention seeing Liam, wanted to ask him about why Liam was hanging round Primrose Hill, but had hesitated for a reason he doesn’t want to examine too closely. He ended up not mentioning Liam at all.

“Hiya Liam,” Nick says, hopefully successfully faking a ‘I’m not about to expire from being overly tired and emotional’ look and tone.

Liam says hello and frowns at him, looking concerned. It’s possible that Nick’s not very convincing. But then Pig jumps on Liam, demanding his attention and putting her muddy front paws on the knees of his joggers.

“Hey, no. Down Pig, no jumping.” He tries to sound firm, but she ignores him anyway.

“It’s fine.” Liam says, and crouches down to pet her. Watson returns from sniffing a rose bush and takes advantage of Liam being closer to the ground to lick his face without having to jump on him. Nick can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him, feeling slightly better despite the pounding headache.

Liam’s brought a ball this time, which is ace because Nick forgot to grab Pig’s this morning. He can also throw much further than Nick is able to, so Nick doesn’t feel bad about letting him do all the work of playing with the dogs.

After a little while, the dogs stop to take a rest. Pig lays down on her side, panting, and Nick finally gives up the ghost and sprawls out next to her in the grass, ignoring the way the dew is still clinging to it, making him damp. “It’s too early,” he whinges, hiding his eyes with his elbow.

“Thought you would’ve been used to it by now.”

“Nope. Never. Never going to get used to it, because I’m the idiot who manages to purposely forget on a Saturday night out that I’m going to have to get up this early even on a Sunday.”

Liam doesn’t respond, and Nick regrets complaining about his hangover. Liam’s probably up this early every morning, with or without the dog, working out and drinking smoothies and whatever else fit and healthy popstars do. But then there’s a hand stroking his hair and another rubbing his temples in the exact way Harry particularly likes after a rough night out. And while normally, hair touching is completely off limits even to his closest friends, it does feel quite nice right now.

“Harry make you do this for him too?” Liam asks, and Nick nods in response. “Just relax then. I’ll keep an eye on the dogs.”

Nick keeps his eyes closed and listens as Liam talks to him in a low voice, just nonsense about Watson’s training regime and favourite toy and odd doggy idiosyncrasies. Liam’s got a good speaking voice, Nick realises, nice solid Brummie accent. Nick’s always loved accents, all different varieties, and is constantly trying to copy them even if he’s not all that good at it.

He loses track of time while enjoying the head massage and trying to think up a good reason for him to do a Liam Payne impression on the radio. His Rita impression has become a show staple, but he can’t quite remember how that even started. Abruptly, Liam stops, both talking and massaging.

Nick sits up, and notices that a few more people and dogs have shown up in the park. Liam shifts around to face Nick, deliberately putting his back towards an adorable golden retriever puppy and the two tween girls who are playing with the dog. Nick raises his eyebrow in a way he hopes comes off as questioning.

Liam seems to understand his eyebrow language. “Just in case. Not sure if I’m up for dealing with fans this morning. God, that sounds awful, doesn’t it? I’m assuming they like me and then not wanting to be grateful to them if they do. Maybe I should say hi?”

His people-pleasing instincts are even worse than Harry’s. “Nah. Try not to be noticed.” Nick says. “They may like you and you’ll make their lives, but then they’ll get on Twitter and then all your adoring fans will show up and you’ve no security here and you’ll never be able to come back to this park and Pig will be devastated if Watson wasn’t around to play with her anymore. Or they aren’t fans and don’t care who you are and your ego will be bruised and I don’t want to witness a sad Liam in my park.”

“Okay.” Liam says. Like it’s that easy. “But we should maybe get out of here.”

“Yes. I’m absolutely starving. Want to come back to mine for breakfast?” As he asks the question, though it was intended innocently, he becomes aware that it sounds a bit like a pick-up, reminiscent of the classic ‘how do you like your eggs in the morning’ one. He keeps talking, hoping to distract Liam from having the same conclusion. “Only, I don’t actually have any food in my house, maybe toast? I had half an avocado and some watercress on toast for my tea last night, I’m pretty sure I still have toast.”

“We should go to mine, I’ve got everything in for a proper fry-up, and you look like you need one.” Nick would be offended at the implication, except he saw his under-eyes this morning, Liam’s just speaking the truth.

“And coffee? Yes, I’d love some brekkie, but I also need coffee. Though I guess tea will do in a pinch.”

“I think I’ve some in my freezer. C’mon.” Liam stands swiftly and reaches down for Nick’s hands, pulling him up. Nick’s head spins for a moment, dizzy from moving so fast, and Liam stays close, holding on and steadying him.

“Thanks.” Nick says, and Liam squeezes his upper arm.

They manage to get the dogs back on their leashes and out of the park without anyone recognizing Liam, or Nick, as he reminds himself that he’s famous too. Or if they are recognized, no one is bothered enough by either one of them to make a big deal about it.

Nick falls into step with Liam and they walk past the cafe he likes. He almost wants to suggest they stop there, but he's also really curious about where Liam lives. They only walk about another block before Liam stops in front of a red brick building. "We're just through here." They walk along the side to a private entrance and walk up a flight of stairs to the first floor.

"I thought you had one of those flash places over by Canary Wharf?" Nick asks, looking around Liam's spacious flat. He can't get a read on how long Liam's occupied it; the kitchen looks well-stocked, there are awards on the mantle, and framed comics on the walls, but there's also unpacked boxes in the corner and furniture that looks spotless. Watson and Pig start playing with a rope toy in the corner, and Nick finds a place to lean against the kitchen counter that’ll hopefully be out of Liam’s way.

Liam shrugs and hands Nick the paracetamol before turning the kettle on. "I did. Lived there with my ex. But after we broke up, I didn't want to be there anymore."

Nick's fairly shocked. Liam's not officially had a girlfriend in a few years, he knows that much about 1D trivia from the times he's interviewed them. With the level of scrutiny that Liam dealt with on a daily basis, from both paparazzi and fans, the idea of him having a secret ex, one that he'd gotten serious enough to live with, was bonkers.

Nick resists the urge to try and get some good gossip off Liam and changes the subject. “Well you chose a good replacement flat. Lovely lighting in here. Good layout.”

Liam smiles at him before turning back to their breakfast. “Thanks. I like it.” He’s multitasking in a way Nick can never seem to manage while cooking: chopping up tomatoes and mushrooms, while sausages and bacon are browning in a pan, and beans warming in a pot. “Hash?”

Mmm, carbs. Nick does his best Homer Simpson impression and confirms to Liam that he wants to eat all the food there is, making Liam’s eyes disappear briefly as he laughs at Nick. He pours Nick’s coffee and hands it to him on the way to the fridge.

It’s perfect. The best cup of coffee he’s ever had.

It’s possible that his need for caffeine is skewing his judgement, but still. “You are a god amongst men, Liam Payne.”

Liam makes a ‘don’t mention it-aww shucks’ sort of noise in response.

“No, seriously, thanks Liam, this is great. You’re sure I can’t help with any of that?” He waves his hand to indicate the various things in different stages of cooking.

Liam shakes his head. “I’ve got it. Go sit down and relax.”

A better man than Nick would probably protest, insist on helping somehow, but he’s him, so he shuffles over to the sofa and collapses onto it. Immediately Pig and Watson jump up next to him, clambering over each other to try and get into his lap. “What’s your policy on dogs on furniture?” Nick calls out. “Should I shoo them off?”

“Nah, leave ‘em. Can get new stuff if it gets messed up.”

There’s a rich popstar joke to be made there, but Nick can’t quite figure out the right wording for it in his impaired state. Instead he just settles in and enjoys his coffee while being cuddled by dogs and waiting on a popstar to finish cooking his breakfast. Somehow despite the earliness and the headache and feeling so drained and weary, this is turning out to be a great morning.

~

A couple of days after the hungover at the park debacle, Nick is on the radio teasing a new video in which Pig takes over an interview for him. During a song, he’s debating with Fiona about if he is as bad as those mom-agers out there, forcing his dog into the celebrity spotlight. Then Producer Vic distracts him when she makes the most adorable little shocked noise.

Nick mimics it best he can. “Is that how it sounded? Do it again Vic!”

“Shut it, Nick. We’re having a Twitter situation.”

The social media computer is having trouble keeping up with the amount of mentions and replies they’re getting. “What level of situation? Did I blackout and accidentally swear? Insult the Queen? Insult, no, just mention a member of 1D?”

“No, it was 1D mentioning us. And it’s great. A lot of positive attention, I just wasn’t prepared even though Matt Fincham wrote me a memo about this sort of thing.”

Fiona starts telling Vic horror stories about One Direction fans as Nick pulls up Twitter on his phone. It looks like Liam had tweeted at the R1Breakfast twitter account, simply mentioning that he’s looking forward to watching Pig’s video.

During the next link, Nick gives a shoutout to all of Pig’s devoted fans, “including friend of the show Liam Payne.”

“Not that I don’t like Liam,” Fiona muses, “but when did he become a friend of the show?”

“I’m doing that thing where I’m mentioning it while on air to make it happen. Liam, I hope you’re still listening, because we’re upgrading you to friend of the show status. Come visit us or do Call-or-Delete with us or something. I think he should be my new favourite member of One Direction.”

“What do you mean?” Fiona asks. “Do you not like Harry anymore?”

“Harry’s my pal, Zayn was my favourite member of the band. And now it’s Liam.”

“Feels disloyal.”

But Liam looks like a young David Beckham and Harry sometimes resembles a frog, Nick thinks and wisely does not say on air. Instead he changes the subject to whether or not Fiona could have even named all the members of the band without him having said three names already. During the next song, he sees he has a DM from Liam, it’s just three emojis: the classic smiley face, dog, and a thumbs up. He sends back a smug moonface and nails being painted one. And then he sends another message, _Pig is completely enamoured with Watson, dying to see him again. Park later?_

Liam messages back with a time and a mobile number, _in case pig needs to call her bf_

Nick's a little worried when he shows up at the planned time and there are a lot more people in the park than he's used to. He keeps forgetting that he normally sees it at half five on a weekend. But it seems Liam anticipated this possibility because there's a hulking bodyguard sat on a nearby bench, ready if he's needed.

But he's not needed. No one bothers them except to make small talk if their dog gets caught up in Pig and Watson's exuberant playing.

Later, they're talking about going back to Nick's for tea when both of their phones go off nearly at the same time. Nick's text is from Gillian, asking if he wants to meet her out. Liam laughs at his and shows hands the mobile to Nick in explanation.

It's a selfie from Harry. He's pouting ridiculously and captioned it 'stop stealing my friends LIAM'.

Nick cackles. "Oh we've got to send him a picture right now."

He can actually see Liam's eyes light up at his suggestion. Liam opens his camera app, which is conveniently already in selfie mode. He brings his face close to Nick's, pressing their cheeks together. "Okay, say, 'suck it, Harry.'" He takes the picture quickly, capturing Nick mid-giggle.

It's a good picture.

"Send me a copy too, yeah?" Nick asks. Liam does, and the notification reminds him that he had yet to reply to Gillian. "Hey, you want to out for our tea? My pal Gelz wants to meet for a curry."

Liam beams at him. "I'd love that."

~

There are a few pap shots of the three of them at dinner, which in turn lead to a couple of articles full of supposition and innuendo. Nick is expecting that his publicist has heard from 1DHQ, they’ve had words before about his being an “influence” on Harry after some of their wild nights out. But if there’s been any directives from publicists, they have not been passed along to Nick.

He still feels the need to apologise to Liam, but figures it’s best expressed through text. _I hope you’re not getting any shit for hanging out with me._

Liam responds quickly: _course not id tell thm to fuck off anyway :P_

Good.

They plan to meet up again at their park on Friday afternoon. Nick gets there first, which is rare, but Liam’s coming directly from some interview. He sits down on a bench while he waits, catching up on his Twitter feed. He must be pretty caught up in it, because he doesn’t even notice Liam’s arrival until he’s sat down right next to him, their shoulders brushing together since Liam has apparently caught his bandmates’ distrust of personal space.

“Sorry again,” Nick says once Liam’s done telling him about the interview and the fan run-in he had on the way there. “About the pap thing. I really didn’t mean for it to happen, and I know you don’t think this, but I hate when people think that’s why I’m friends with people who are more famous than me. Like it’s all about attention for me and not that you’re a good bloke to spend time with.”

“It’s not...I don’t think like…” Liam’s quiet for a moment. “Like, with my ex, you know?” Nick shrugs, he really has no idea what Liam’s saying. “Like, we were secret. It was never in the papers. And it’s not like I wanted it that way, I had been ready, but they didn’t-- _he didn’t_. He didn’t want it out there. Didn’t want to be known as Liam Payne’s boyfriend. And I get not wanting the attention, it would have been really hard, but it’s sucks, feeling like you’re not worth it. Not worth being seen with.”

“Wow,” Nick says. “That bloke of yours sounds completely daft.”

Nick can see the tension bleed off Liam’s frame as he responds. “Yeah?”

He reaches over and wraps an arm around Liam’s shoulders, and Liam shifts to fit even closer into Nick’s side. “Deffo. You’re the catch of the century, anyone who would let you go has got to have something seriously wrong with them, and not wanting to be seen with you? That’s beyond comprehension. It’s a good thing you cut him loose.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

~

As much as he hates to admit it, now that Liam’s come out to him, Nick’s confused about their relationship. Yes, he was always attracted to Liam. But as they started to hang out, Nick kept wanting to spend more and more time with him. He thought that he’d experience his normal week-long straight boy crush and then get into the platonic mates zone.

But now. Now he's not sure if his habit of constantly lowkey flirting has been taken seriously. He doesn't always want it to be taken seriously, not with everyone, but with Liam...yeah. He thinks it could be nice, could work well with the two of them.

It's just really hard for him to figure out what Liam's thinking. He's been pretty handsy with Nick, but it's no more than he seems to be with all of his mates. He should just ask. Just talk to Liam. Like a real adult. But god, the prospect is terrifying.

What if Liam thinks of him like some sort of sexless gay uncle? Or really needs a friend, and Nick making some sort of pass at him betrays this trust they've been building? What if he ruins this good thing they've got between them by trying for something more?

They've hung out a few more times in the last couple of weeks; with dogs, without dogs, with other friends, by themselves. Liam's fast becoming one of Nick's favourite people. His self-preservation instincts tell him if there is going to be change in their relationship, he should make sure it happens soon. Before he gets too used to Liam's smile brightening up his day. Nick makes a promise to himself, to talk to Liam before the promo for the new album starts.

But he doesn't expect to get the chance on this particular Sunday morning. He'd bet money that he will be spending their normal early park time alone. Nick's already seen so much damning photographic evidence from Liam's night out with his laddy friends the night before. Some taken by paparazzi on gossip sites, some messaged from Liam himself. The most recent message is from a little less than three hours ago.

So Nick is plenty surprised to see Liam and Watson there, presumably waiting on him and Pig. Also, he would not have expected that Liam's eyes would be so bright and clear, despite the rest of his face being a little puffy from lack of sleep. No matter what the papers were reporting, Nick could tell Liam hadn't been on some sort of bender last night.

"Hiya." Liam says, stealing Nick's choice greeting.

Nick gives him a hug. "I definitely didn't expect to see you this morning."

"But it's our normal time." Liam's voice lifts a bit at the end of his sentence, like he's not sure whether or not it was a question.

"You should still be asleep. And don't tell me Watson woke you, even he looks exhausted." Watson lifts his head up briefly when Nick says his name, but then flops back over onto his side. Pig lays down next to him.

"It's dumb, but I just didn't like the thought of you out here all alone."

"Because Regent's Park is so dangerous?" Nick asks.

"Because I don't like being lonely. And I know you don't either."

Nick nods. "Yes. Loneliness sucks. I think most people agree with that. But you should go back home and go back to bed."

"Okay." Liam says, agreeably. "But you should join me."

"In bed? Your bed? To nap together...as pals?"

"I'd rather it was as more than pals. I'd say that we aren't going to be sleeping either, but you're right I am really tired." 

"Alright." As far as propositions go, Liam's was not the smoothest Nick's experienced, but given that it happened in a pre-dawn hour, he allows himself to be taken by it. Just one more clarification is necessary though. "Is this just one of those 'we can be not lonely if we're together' deals or do you actually want to date me?"

Liam laughs. "I've been trying for weeks to date you. You just couldn't get the hint!"

"You know what hint I would have gotten?"

Nick leans down and presses their lips together before Liam has a chance to answer.

**Author's Note:**

> twoshipsdrifting: All of your prompts were really great! I got so many ideas and actually started 3 separate fics for this exchange. I hope you liked this one.


End file.
